Fact Vs. Fiction: Clearing the Air on Vaping.

(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s no hotter underground trend in smoking right now than vaping. There are over 2.5 million e-cig vapers in the U.S. along, with 2.7 percent of the population claiming they’ve tried e-cigs at least once. The trend in this industry continues its upward trajectory.

At the same time, there’s an opposing force out there committed to bringing down the vaping industry. Here are the top myths being put out by critics.

Vaping Is A Gateway To Smoking

One popular myth circling around is that vaping is a gateway to smoking. No. It’s not. It’s actually the other way around. Only a small percentage of people who vape were previous non-smokers. Most people are ex-smokers. The trend is going in exactly the opposite direction, with smokers using vaping as a gateway to not inhaling at all.

In fact, popular sites like VaporizerBlog.com regularly discuss how ex-smokers use vaping to help them quit. Mysteriously, or perhaps not so mysteriously, the groups that are missing are teens and non-smokers.

There’s also the 2013 study from Health Day showing that e-cigs don’t attract teens to smoking.

Another surveycarried out by Action on Smoking and Health studied roughly 952 teenagers. The researchers found that only 9.4 percent of non-smokers had ever tried an e-cig with only 0.16 percent picking up the habit.

For those who reported being both vapers and smokers, 98 percent had first used tobacco, not an e-cig. This contradicts the idea that e-cigs are a gateway to smoking.

The E-Liquid Ingredients Are Secret

Every once in a while, this myth crops up. And, it’s understandable why it does. E-liquids aren’t regulated in the same way cigarettes are.

Because of this, some critics believe that there’s no “watchdog” protecting the consumer. But, there are studies on e-cig liquids and what’s in them.

These studies break out substances, concentrations, and compare them with cigarettes so we do know quite a lot about what we’re inhaling.

Some manufacturers do have proprietary processes and don’t want to disclose the ratios in the liquid what makes their liquid so good. But, the ingredients are basically the same across all manufacturers. This is because nicotine is the stimulant, and it’s sourced from the same or similar suppliers for virtually all e-liquid manufacturers.

E-cigs emit vapor, which is made of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, and various flavorings. Sometimes, manufacturers include other substances (more on that later).

Lots of people are concerned about propylene glycol because they don’t know what it is. It’s a substance recognized as safe by the FDA, which absorbs water. Additionally, it’s a commonly-found substance in various food products.

You’re probably already ingesting quite a lot of it already. So, there’s nothing new about it except that you’re inhaling it and breathing out vapor.

Finally there’s a landmark study showing that e-cig liquid is safer than smoking regular cigarettes. The flavorings, PG, and vegetable glycerine found in the liquid is, not surprisingly, less toxic than all of the substances found in cigarettes.

Nicotine levels were measured, as were various other substances. Phenols were present in minute amounts. Acetaldehyde and formaldehyde was found in almost all e-liquids. Those are two very dangerous chemicals. But, they were found in trace amounts, 200-300 times lower concentration in 1 mL of the liquid compared to 1 gram of traditional tobacco products.

The toxic substances were also only found in certain types of liquids – Natural Extract of Tobacco (NET) liquids. Overall, there were 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower toxins in e-liquids compared to tobacco products.

Teens Can Buy It

Teens have been managing to buy booze and cigarettes for ages. If a teenager wants something, they can usually get their hands on it. But, legally, these devices cannot be sold to people under the age of 18.

So, while the age-range for e-cig users is pretty wide, it explicitly excludes minors.

Vaping Is More Expensive Than Smoking

Vaping can be expensive, especially when you’re first getting started, but over the long-term, it’s actually cheaper. Studies show that a pack a day smoker will spend approximately $2,200 per year for cigarettes compared to just $800 per year on e-liquids and maintenance of the device.

It’s a 60 percent savings – a difference likely accounted for in some part by taxes on cigarettes which aren’t levied on e-cigs or liquids.

Comments

A very good read. Keep informing and teaching the public that vapes are not the demon they are made to be by many media sources and so-called scientists who already biased against it or have found a way to profit from it by publishing false information.

I was a smoker for 24 years. I started when I was 13. The first time I tried to quit, I stayed smoke free for 3 years. Chantix (which I consider to be very harmful) is what I used the first time to quit. It was effective, the first time. I fell off the wagon when I deployed to Iraq. When I tried to quit again using Chantix, it was ineffective. What helped me quit the second time??? VAPING! I have been smoke free for almost 2 years now, thanks to vaping.

I still vape to this day. I don’t stink like cigarettes anymore, I feel healthier, and I don’t wake up anymore coughing my lungs up. It is a life-saver. I know many others with similar stories. A ban on vaping will only aide the tobacco industry and keep people addicted to cigarettes.

Great article except for the first sentence. Vaping is not “smoking” because the thermal vaporizers do not burn anything. Vaping fluids are not tobacco products even when some of them do contain nicotine because many plants other than tobacco contain the drug. USP nicotine is the same regardless of its source. Virtually all vaping juice is composed primarily of glycerin and propylene glycol. Both of those are common food additives which are generally regarded as safe and available in bulk at low cost. Nicotine has been studied for a long time and is considered to be about as harmful to consume as caffeine.

Most young people know the facts about vaping but many older folks see it as just another form of smoking. Some old people want to ban it along with modern haircuts, popular music, low worn pants, piercings, and tattoos.

Not minding their own business is the worst habit of all and no good will come from stigmatizing vapers for vaping. They are not smokers and they are not using tobacco products.

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